Vegetation history and human impact during the last 300 years recorded in a German peat deposit

Abstract

Vegetation history and human impact during the last 300 years recorded in a German peat deposit van der Linden, M.; Vickery, E.; Charman, D.J.; Broekens, P.M.; van Geel, B. General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Download date: 12 May 2018This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. A peat core from the Barschpfuhl kettlehole mire in north-east Germany was analysed for multiproxy indicators (plant macrofossils, pollen/non-pollen microfossils, testate amoebae, colorimetric humification, carbon/nitrogen ratios, bulk density, loss on ignition), to investigate the effects of climate change and human impact on vegetation and peat accumulation during the last c. 300 years. 14 C wiggle-match dating was applied for high-precision dating. Testate amoebae assemblages were used to reconstruct past water table depths and compared with other proxies and instrumental climate data from the mid-18th century onwards. The mire hydrology of this relatively small bog was heavily influenced by forestry changes in the area. The climate signal was therefore obscured. Afforestation with fast-growing conifers and drainage for agricultural purposes resulted in a lowering of the water level, changes in trophic status, changes in mire surface vegetation and increased decomposition of the peat. Variations in the openness and cultivated land indicators in the pollen data of Barschpfuhl reflect regional population density and land use changes. A B S T R A C T A R T I C L E I N F O

Landscape transformation in the low karst plain of Bela krajina (SE Slovenia) over the last 220 years

“…Similar studies conducted in Europe (Antrop 2004;Bender et al 2005;Reger et al 2007;Linden et al 2008), show a similar pattern in the afforestation of abandoned agricultural regions. These studies also highlight the change in the demographic structure, reflected in land use practices, as the reason for the change in the landscape structure and demonstrate a similar pattern of change in the landscape structure through the observed period of time.…”

“…Spontaneous afforestation of the landscape after WWII was faster than in other European regions (^arni et al 1998;Linden et al 2008;Garcia-Feced et al 2011). Our results also not only indicate the significance of human interventions in the appearance of the traditional landscape in Europe but also signal the threat to these landscapes by a changed land use regime.…”

“…Numerous studies have explored the afforestation of post-agricultural landscapes (Skanes and Bunce 1997;^arni et al 1998;Seabrook et al 2006;Linden et al, 2008;Zomeni et al 2008) but rarely cover Acta geographica Slovenica, 52-1, 2012 Figure 7: Silver Birch (Betula pendula) is a characteristic species occurring in the early stage of forestation. the long time span available in the area of Bela krajina.…”

Carbon accumulation in peat deposits from northern Sweden to northern Germany during the last millennium

“…The N-Ge and S-Sw peat cores were clearly disturbed by human impact. In Northern Germany, 19th-century planting of pine trees in the region may have affected the bog hydrology (Van der Linden et al, 2008b). In Southern Sweden, peat cutting activities took place in the 20th century (Van der Linden and Van Geel, 2006).…”

The Impact of Climate Change and Human Activity on Net Primary Production in Tibet

“…Moreover, it cannot be denied that human activity makes up one of the most important factors involved in environmental change. On the other hand, human activity appears to have a greater impact on NPP than climate change (excluding plant growth) [36,37].…”